St. Cloud Police Plan Service For Slain Officers

ST. CLOUD — The St. Cloud Police Department will hold a special ceremony May 15 at Veterans Park to honor the law enforcement officers across the country who have been killed in the line of duty.

Congress has declared May 12-18 as Law Enforcement Week; May 15 is Police Memorial Day. Statistics show that an average of 100 law enforcement officers are killed in the United States each year in the line of duty.

Although St. Cloud has never lost a police officer in the line of duty, Thomas Bartholomew, a Kissimmee policeman, was killed in 1983 as he was trying to help a woman held at gunpoint by her husband. To date, Bartholomew is the only officer in Osceola County to die in the line of duty.

Speeches will be given by St. Cloud Mayor Robert Renick and Police Chief E.E. Eunice. The ceremony, which begins at noon and is open to the public, will also include a 21-gun salute and taps. Veterans Park is at 13th Street and New York Avenue in St. Cloud.

During Law Enforcement Week, officers will have police displays set up at the Southland and Westgate shopping centers off 13th Avenue.

Daryl Bass, St. Cloud's crime prevention officer, said the exhibits will give the police officers an ''opportunity to get to know the public.''

The displays will include a narcotics exhibit, a patrol car and a variety of brochures dealing with law enforcement.

''Since most people take law enforcement for granted, our aim is to try and get more citizens involved, and to let them know more about what we do,'' Bass said.